CEB: Recipe for Success is Adapting and Not Radically Slashing Costs

Businesses across the world are under pressure to cut costs while continuing to expand, under the likelihood that budgets will be slashed again in 2014.

However, it is not an impossible task, says the senior director at advisory giants CEB.

"If you look at the companies that failed or went bust after the credit crisis, it wasn't from regulatory costs or fines, it was their failure to adapt to changes in the market," said Paul Dennis to IBTimes TV at the EIU CFO Summit.

"The recipe for success is being able to see where the business needs to change and manage that accordingly. Of course you need to manage costs but that doesn't mean doing a massive budget slash and then just moving on."

CEB provides advisory services to 16,000 senior leaders from more than 6,000 organisations across 60 countries.

This equates to more than 88% of the Fortune 500, more than 62% of the Dow Jones Asian Titans, and nearly 85% of the FTSE 100.

"Regulatory costs, in order to stay complaint, is the single biggest challenge for chief financial officers at the moment," said Dennis.

"However, those who succeed, may reduce the risk spectrum by pulling out of certain units, but balance this by balancing better, stronger and more profitable in a smaller amount of areas."